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Topic: Crackalicious ! (Read 9153 times)

After looking through my past posts I had sent for Norma I had an craving for the cracker crust again. Done as per Thin and Crispy recipe on this site. As mentioned in my other cracker posts, this is a great recipe and a house favorite. I used AP flour the last bag of Grande East Coast ( thanks again PCampell it was fine after freezing!) May have overcheesed a few? And whipped up a sauce With penzy seasonings 6-1's ...Came out Had my helper roll out the dough and ended up with a 2- 12" and 1- 9" from the 16 oz. flour recipe. You can see how thin it gets. Trick again is 4 hrs room rise prior to even trying. Cutter pan, Par bake for a few minutes. top and direct on center rackI made about 10 various pies this night, and as a warning, concentrate on the pre bake happens fast, and then watch em cook! Luckily everybody here likes em a little well done.John

scott123

I used AP flour the last bag of Grande East Coast ( thanks again PCampell it was fine after freezing!)

John, if I'm hearing you correctly, are you saying that every pizza you have pictured here is using previously frozen Grande mozzarella? And when you say 'bag,' you mean, it's it's the shredded blend, right? How long was it frozen for? Is your freezer frost free?

I had a 6 pound block of Grande whole milk in my hand two days ago and I just couldn't rationalize using 2 pounds (my normal portion for 4 crusts) and freezing 4. I've got a pretty major frozen cheese phobia. If I can be reasonably certain it's going to look like that after baking... I might pull the trigger. Thrift plays a pretty big part of my pizza fetish, so I tend to be very happy with my $1.99/lb sale cheese (for the most part- Biazzo's really let me down in recent years), but, for special occasions, I think I can live with spending $2.99/lb for the Grande.

Thanks Peter!Means a lot coming from You I will be posting the other Pizza hut Pan and NY styles I made that same evening Latewr today if I have time

Scott123,Just checked my PMs from PC He gave methis cheese 3- 5 lb bags shredded in October 9th ish I froze it right away in my box freezer down stairs I wish it were frost free!. I never have a prob when I throw the entire bag in there, Its using it after I open thats the problem!As I mentioned they are a little over done but look for my other posts with same cheese heres a few NY style with this same cheese same night.

scott123

John, thanks for the info. Drats. I wish your freezer were frost free as well, as it's pretty much impossible to compare the cheese freezing results of a manual defrost freezer to a frost free one, as the manual model doesn't cycle cold/hot and is far more temp stable.

I'm not giving up, mind you, but before I shell out for 6 lb. of cheese, I'm going to have find some encouraging photos of pizzas made from cheese frozen in a frost free freezer.

Your Crackalicious really looks tasty! Your little Pizzaiolo daughter and you did a fantastic job? I love the flour on her hands and her big smile. How does this kind of pizza taste compared to others? Tell your daughter she is a terrific pizza chef.

Bones,This is the recipe on the recipe page of this forum. (not sure how to link that) this was my first attempt Its very weird looking dough at first especially is you are used to working with as NY style. It should look like a brain and does not rise much in fridge. Take it out a good 4 hrs before or even warm it a touch before rolling and docking Here was my 1st cracker try it you'll like it!!http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,7592.0.html

Norma,The taste is really from a good sauce and cheese. The crust is so thin it does not have a lot of bearing on the overall taste. I love the crispy crunch like a big saltine with no salt. I recommend you give it a try if you ever finish the Giordano's

John,Your success with thin and cracker crust(s) have been inspiring me for far too long, so I finally took action. Here is mine following the "thin and crispy" recipe as well on this website….but I forgot to dock it!!…Still came out great. Topped with scamorza and mozzarella with 6 in 1’s.Mmmmm.

Question: Are you rolling it out with just a rolling pin? I really struggled with that to get it thin, but it could be because I used KASL and 3-day fridge proof. I did let it sit at room temperature for about 5 hours after the fridge. Maybe I just needed to work it down more

Hey Chris,Nice work! Looks fine to me!!Yes its a bit tough to roll out I even go so far as to put it in warming drawer at like 90 degrees for somtime that helps a bit. I do not use KASL for that style and that may make it a bit tough as well. Calls for AP flour I believe. Anyway yes Just a rolling pin to roll out on floured granite counter top with a little pressure an patience, then into cutter pans, dock and par/ pre bake . Did you use a cutter Pan?I also saw your post over in the Home run INN and meant to comment how great that looks as well thes are both a welcome and great change from the standard NY style we pump out so often. Also the deep dish BTB w/ semolina thats in the works for next session Have you tried that bad boy yet?Keep up the great work ChrisJohn

I will use the AP next time, dock it and par bake it (forgot that par bake also). I get so in the habit of not doing it that way from my NY and high-heat styles. LOL. I have a pan (not a true cutter pan) that I cooked it in, its like a bad imitation of a cutter pan. I have a birthday coming up soon, so on my list is a true cutter and deep dish pan. This should help.

P.S. I have been getting some mixed success with Chicago deep dish. Making progress in that area too and learning what works and what doesn't. Its another style I love. I love em all!!!

If you search the Cracker Style index, you will find that high-gluten flour is a favorite for the cracker style. However, I found the Harvest King bread flour, now marketed as Better for Bread flour, to be a very good choice. I personally liked it better than all-purpose flour because I was able to get better crust coloration in my oven. John uses a fancy and expensive Wolf oven that can do things that my oven can only dream of .

John is also right in suggesting warming up the dough before rolling it out. I use an inexpensive proofing box to do that.

Thanks Peter,I think I can get the Harvest King out here in Colorado, so will experiment with that for sure. I'll also try warming dough as you and John mention. I have an inexpensive proof box (cooler with light bulb) also from my Ischia usage - which actually works great, so it looks like I have found another use for that!

Somehow I missed your excellent post on the proof box and using it make to make the cracker crust easy to roll out. Big dummy me. I have been working the dough to death trying to get it thin enough when the answer was right here all along.

Hey John,Great looking pie. It might have been my recent post in the Bova thread, and recipe request for Erasmo that inspired you. I worked off the Lehmann cracker recipe and used KASL, it was great. It was my second try so I altered a few things and was quite happy with the results. I tried it yesterday with KAAP and was a little disappointed. I highly recommend the Hi-Gluten. The recipe I posted for Erasmo turned out a much smoother dough that was not like "brains". In retrospect, next time I would add another tsp or so of water to bring it together, if needed. This is a great style of pizza.

Chris,I have a few select deep dish I am wiling to part with brand new! Let me know I went a little crazy when I started buying pans Thanks Bob, I would love to try the KASL for this I usually do a 1/2 AP and 1/2 BF type of mix with good resultsI cant get the KASL without going to Catalog for $7.99 for 3 lbs plus shipping they can keep it! why cant people sell 20 lb bags ??I have a good shot at using that quickly, seems its 3 or 50lbs.?I have tried that KASL in NY style and Love it! but have to pay for this Fancy oven Any contacts for this flour northern NJ would be great.

John, It looks like the KASL worked good for you. Here is a link from Trogdor33 that I used today. I scored a 50# bag of KASL and 50# of KA Special. Dutch Valley may have a vendor in your area. As long as you keep it dry and keep the bugs out, it will keep. You may even get someone up there to split it with you.